


The Red Sea

by Arsenic



Series: Dickens-verse [13]
Category: Bandom, White Collar
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, dickens-verse - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-04
Updated: 2013-09-04
Packaged: 2017-12-25 14:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsenic/pseuds/Arsenic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mikey can handle bad food and mean kids, but not being away from Gee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Red Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chibifukurou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/gifts).



> Beta'ed by theletterelle, all remaining mistakes are mine. Second in the chibifukurou blackout, for the square "parting ways."

Mikey was not quite seven the first time he and Gee were separated by the state. The social worker who'd been assigned their case pulled them into a small room at the group home they'd been staying in and told them they'd been found nice families. Gee, who'd been ten, had said, "We're not splitting up."

The social worker had called them "boys" in a soft voice and explained that it was sometimes hard for foster families to take in more than one school-age boy. Mikey told the social worker, "We can just stay here."

The group home was crowded and some of the other kids were pretty mean—Mikey and Gee had already had most of the stuff they'd brought from home stolen—and the food didn't taste very good, but Gee was there. The only time in his life Mikey had ever been apart from Gee had been during the days when Gee had gone off to school and Mikey hadn't been old enough. He didn't really remember that time.

Mikey'd made friends at school, but nobody was as perfect as Gee. Gee was sneakily funny and he drew scary-cool things and he never laughed at Mikey's ideas, just came up with additions. Gee had stayed with Mikey when their dad had died, and Mikey couldn't sleep alone. He'd let Mikey have most of the food when mom was sick and they were both hungry.

Gee wasn't just all Mikey had left, he was everything. When the social worker disagreed, and told Mikey he had to go, Mikey kicked and screamed for Gee, who was being held by one of the home employees while the social worker dragged Mikey into the car. Mikey screamed until he couldn't anymore, and then he stopped making a sound.

*

The family _was_ nice. It was an older couple with a few adult children who no longer lived at home and one daughter in high school. They were all kind to Mikey and didn't even push him to talk too much. The only person Mikey felt like telling anything was Gee, and he didn't know where Gee was, didn't even know how to find out.

His foster mom tried doing puzzles with him and his foster dad tried playing baseball in the backyard with him. The girl mostly just said hi and bye, but she didn't seem to mind him. Mikey knew he should be nice, should want to stay, but he needed Gee more than he needed a real bed and tasty dinners and a couple of adults who didn't know him.

Mikey had no idea how Gee found him; he didn't ask. When Gee knocked on the door three Saturdays after they'd been separated, Mikey barreled past his foster dad, who'd opened the door, and into Gee's arms. All the words he'd been saving up started pouring out. They didn't even really make sense, there were so many of them, but Gee just held on and nodded at key points.

Gee wouldn't tell Mikey's fosters where he lived, and the two of them sat in the grass of the front yard reconnecting until it became dark and the family convinced them to come inside. They fed both boys dinner and let Gee follow Mikey up to bed, and for the few minutes before he fell asleep—finally able to, now that Gee was there—he started to believe things might be all right.

The next morning, when they went down to breakfast, their social worker was waiting for them, ready to take Gee away again.

*

The third time they tried to take Gee away, Mikey threw a punch. It wasn't much of one, but that, combined with the fact that neither of them would let go of each other, got them sent back to the group home. Gee whispered, "Sorry."

Mikey shook his head and clung to Gee. If these people were going to find him a nice family, it was going to be one with Gee.

*

The second family they found was also nice, if a lot more strict. That was fine, Mikey'd been in the group home, comparatively, it was easy. But following rules when Gee and Mikey could find little, funny ways to skirt them and delight in each other's trickiness was one thing. It was another when it was just Mikey.

The first time Gee found his way to Mikey in that home, he was sent back immediately and Mikey was grounded from TV use for a week. Mikey used the time to write letters that would probably never get to Gee.

The second time, they were smarter about it, and met at the school, but when neither of them came home, the social worker was called, and they were found and sent back to their respective fosters. That time Mikey's fosters lectured him on good behavior and sent him to bed without dinner. It didn't bother him: Gee and he had scrounged enough change to get Hostess Cupcakes from the school vending machine and split them.

The third time Gee showed in the middle of the night, but they were caught immediately, when Mikey tried to leave the house going to him. The next morning, as soon as he was let out for school, Mikey made his way to Gee's school and waited in a spot Gee had told him about. They were caught trying to get on a Greyhound.

They got sent to a different group home, one that was pretty sucky, but they were back together, and Mikey could sleep the night through again.

*

When he was older, Mikey would think back to how Neal had kept him calm while they were taking Gee to the hospital and consider how _good_ Neal was, even then, at making himself seem trustworthy. Mikey hadn't listened to anyone in forever when it came to Gee, but Neal held his hand tightly as they packed Gee into a car, and even managed to get him back to the dormitory, if not back to sleep.

In the morning, Neal had been waiting for Mikey, leaning up against the wall to the right of the bed, between it and the next one. He'd gotten Mikey to eat, half by suggesting it was what Gee would want—true—and half by keeping up a steady stream of meaningless conversation that meant the silence of Gee's absence couldn't get too loud.

He'd kept Mikey relatively calm in the hours until Gee came back by telling endless stories, even as his voice began to go hoarse. And when Gee had returned, he hadn't interfered, hadn't kept Mikey from him. Instead, he'd found a way to keep the others from them, so that they were left alone.

*

The social worker showed up about a month later and had a meeting with Mikey. Just Mikey, no Gee this time. The guy told Mikey they'd found him a placement. Mikey had simply stared at him. The guy had sighed and said, "I get that you and your brother are close, and we'll do our best to see that you can keep in touch, but most families aren't up for more than one foster at a time, and especially not when one is almost a teenage boy. I actually am trying, here."

Mikey believed him, he just didn't care. He asked, "When?"

"Three days from now."

Mikey finished up the meeting and then went to go talk to Gee. He was drawing with Neal, and for a moment Mikey wasn't sure if maybe he should wait, but Neal was good at planning, he might have a few ideas.

Gee, to his surprise, looked away and said, "Maybe you should do it, Mikes."

Neal glanced between the two of them. Mikey was too shocked to form a response. Gee sighed and said, "It's eight years before you age out. You really wanna spend them here?"

Mikey swallowed. "I want to spend them with you."

Gee's mouth twisted. "I know, me too, kid, but—"

"You could come with me," Neal said, softly.

Both of them blinked. It was Gee who asked, "What?"

Neal's responding smile was a little too wide. "My caseworker's coming to meet with me on Thursday. Maybe it's just a check-in, but more likely they've found another home and I—I can't do that again, is all."

Mikey remembered how Neal had looked when he'd shown up, more injury than kid visible. He wondered if it was a one-time thing, just that family, or if Neal couldn't do it again the same way Mikey couldn't be separated from Gee again. Mikey tilted his head. "You gonna run away?"

Neal nodded. "I can do it. I did once before and was fine until I had some bad luck and a cop who'd taken me away from one of my fosters saw me and took me back in. But I know what not to do this time, and what to do, and it's better than…a lot of things, I guess."

Gee tapped his fingers against his knee. "It would be way harder with three of us."

"Yeah," Neal admitted. "But easier in some ways, too."

He didn't look at them as he said it and Mikey wondered how long Neal had been on his own. He probably didn't want to know. Gee focused on Mikey and said, "You gotta make this call, Mikes. You could maybe have a family."

Mikey shook his head. "I already have a family."

Neal's expression was blank, like he didn't even want to hope. "Does that mean you're coming?"

Mikey looked at Gee, who, after a minute said, "Yeah, we're in."

  
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

This story archived at <http://tasteofpoison.inkubation.net/fanfic/viewstory.php?sid=592>  



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